events for president obama, showing up in campaign events in new hampshire and elsewhere, with their guns on display. and it was the gun rights groups trying to out do the nra with more inflammatory retroactive, today, wayne lapierre and the nra were determined not to allow any gun rights fanaticics to sound crazier than wayne lapierre. joining me now, msnbc's krystal ball, and krystal, it seems to me that the tea party has had its effect on the nra, nudging them even further into the crazy season. >> yes, it seems to be. the nra is an elitist group, sending out the anecdotes, what you heard gail trotter remark about, they questions their membership that obama and the democrats want to come for their guns. and that has worked for a long time. but what we're seeing now, i think what we're seeing today is the death of a caricature, that stuff worked for so long. but what are we talking about? assault weapons ban, background checks for everyone. all of that makes reasonable sense to a lot of people, including a lot of nra members. >> frank smyth, take us through the journey that the nra